Elina Svitolina believes officials from the world of tennis need to publicly issue a statement explaining the current situation surrounding handshakes among players from countries linked to the war in Ukraine.
The comments came after her marathon clash with Victoria Azarenka was marred at the end by booing. Svitolina ousted her opponent 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(9), in a thrilling encounter that featured 67 winners between both players. However, at the end of their match, they didn’t shake hands at the net which prompted the crowd to boo Azarenka. Even though this is a standard practice that has been used at tennis events for months.
This gesture started last year shortly after Russia launched its so-called ‘special military operation’ against Ukraine. Belarus, which is where Azarenka is from, is suspected of supporting the war. In response, Ukrainian players opt to not shake hands with either Russian or Belarussian players in their matches.
“I think the tennis organizations have to come out with a statement that there will be no handshake between Russian, Belarusian, and Ukrainian players,” Svitolina said during her press conference.
“I don’t know if it’s maybe not clear for people. Some people do not know what is happening. So I think this is the right way to do it.”
Svitolina points out that a similar situation occurred at the French Open which saw her compatriot Marta Kostyuk get booed off the court after not shaking hands with Aryna Sabalenka.
In a recent interview with Ubitennis, the executive director of the Ukrainian Tennis Federation, Evgeniy Zukin, confirmed that his players are under no obligation to refuse handshakes at the net but they are not expected to do so as it is seen as a mark of respect. The UN’s Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) has confirmed that more than 9000 civilians, including 500 children, have been killed in Ukraine since the conflict started on February 24th, 2022.
“We know that not every Russian player is the same but the thing is that Ukrainians cannot shake their hands because of the respect of those fighting on the frontline who have lost their lives to the Russians,” Zukin explained. “It’s nothing to do with Kasatkina or whoever, it’s about the feelings for Ukrainians.’
Meanwhile, a frustrated Azarenka has warned against trying to sensationalize the incident during her press conference. Leaving the court she banged her fists together in reaction to the crowd but later said she had no idea why she did that. When quizzed by the media about the incident, she was hesitant to comment. However, when one journalist said the booing was ‘very unfair’ she replied ‘I think we can agree on that.’
“There is nothing to say. She doesn’t want to shake hands with Russian, Belarusian people. I respected her decision,” Azarenka said.
“What should I have done? Stayed and waited? There’s nothing that I could do that would have been right, so I just did what I thought was respectful toward her decision.’
“But this conversation about shaking hands is not a life-changing conversation.”
At this year’s Wimbledon Belarussian and Russian players have been allowed to participate after being banned in 2022 due to the war. Although all players had to sign a declaration saying that they will not express any pro-war statement and are not receiving funding from their governments.
On the court, Svitolina will play top seed Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
